Random Ramblings

1. So, I am still kniting. I have finished one of the Fancy Silk Socks for my mom.

The bad news is that I have weighed the sock and the leftover yarn from the ball, and it is not close enought to attempt another one. Especially if I want matching stripes. (47g is close to 39g, right?)

2. In other knitting related events, I have shipped off the baby socks to my friends, who had a baby girl named Lucy Elizabeth on Saturday. Mom and baby (and dad) are all doing fine.

3. I have started twice on a pair of socks for my cousin as well. As soon as I realized that my original plan to use a stitch pattern I invented was not going to work, because I had started with a k2p2 rib, and the pattern was a k2p2 rib variation. I decided, for my own fussy reasons, that I could not have the cuff be so similar to the foot. So, I am starting over. I do realize that I probably didn’t invent the stitch pattern I created accidentally, however I have not seen it anywhere else yet, so it is mine!

4. I was also reading through the Harlot’s site, and got to thinking. (Don’t be alarmed! It really will turn out ok. Nothing burned or crashed or had a heart attack. Keep reading.) What was my approach to yarn? I know I am not a harlot, as I have not yet stooped to any level for yarn. So I looked up harlot in the thesaurus, and decided I am more of a Yarn Hustler. I looked up the definition.

1. an enterprising person determined to succeed; go-getter.

2. Slang. a person who employs fraudulent or unscrupulous methods to obtain money; swindler.

Just insert yarn for money in the second definition, and you’ve got me. Now, this has me wondering, what kind of Harlot are you?

5. Some people asked where I got the sale yarn in my last post. I considered long and hard about whether I should share my secrets here (see #4), but decided it would be ok, because I would probably profit in the long run by having more opportunities to get yarn, since more people would be buying from Yarnware (www.yarnware.com). (sneaky, aren’t I?) They typically have selected colors and amounts in 25% off categories, with lots of varieties of yarn. Sometimes there are good things in the 50% off range as well. Since I don’t have a worthy LYS close, I have to resort to the internet frequently. Although I am not above subcoming to cheaper, acrylic yarn.

6. In totally unrelated knitting news, I have science news! It was very exciting, as the three baby hissing cockroaches I have in my classroom have molted! (This means that they shed their shell to grow larger, for those who are not science geeks.) It was so exciting that one of my coworkers actually went home to get his camera to get this picture. (The newly molted one is white. They look like the brown one once their new shell hardens)

Cute, no?